In this series I’m going to
discuss what is technology addiction, what makes technology addictive,
what are the consequences being addicted to the technology, ways to
prevent being addicted to the technology. Throughout the series, I will
use plenty of simple examples as much as possible for your easy
understanding.
Could you find a small grocery shop in a remote village without an
electronic calculator on the cashier's table? Similarly, could you find
a person who does not have a mobile phone today? In my opinion, the
answer for both the questions is “Very difficult to find”. I believe, as
the reader, you agree with this answer. However, what do I really mean
here?

Technology exists everywhere and every corner.
Next, we look at another aspect of the question of the calculator. As you
know, a basic electronic calculator is a device that provides simple
arithmetic functions such as addition, subtraction, division and
multiplication of decimal numbers touching of few buttons. Though some
advanced calculators provide more functions, I just focus on a basic
calculator in this scenario.
Here is the challenge. If you use a calculator all the time to perform your
daily calculations, the day your calculator does not function, how good you
are doing your basic arithmetic calculations either using your memory or a
pen and a paper? One may argue, use your mobile phone’s calculator function
to perform the same calculation. It is not the point. I want to see the
challenge, how good you are doing some simple calculation without using any
electronic device. To understand this, I would recommend you to write down
first ten prime numbers in a piece of paper vertically, and try to derive
the total of those numbers without using a calculator. Make sure you note
down start time and end time. So that, you know the time taken to calculate
the total. Then, do the same addition using a calculator. Again note down
how long it took for you to perform it. Which approach took the longest
time? For an average student, manual method may take considerably a longer
time than the calculator assisted method since the present younger
generation is very familiar with electronic gadgets like calculators.

Assume that your calculator is
misplaced and your mobile phone’s battery is dead. But still you have to do
the above mentioned calculation; find the sum of first ten prime numbers.
What would be your 1st approach? There are three obvious choices. Choice one
is search for the missing calculator. Second choice is recharge your mobile
phone for few minutes and use the phone’s calculator function. Third choice
is adding the numbers manually. You may suggest more choices. However, I
believe for most of you, the last choice would be adding the numbers
manually.
What I described above is a typical example of technology addiction. Even
for a simplest thing that you can do with your basic skills, you tempt to
depend upon technology.
Similarly, what about addicting to the Internet, social media, computers,
computer games, smart phones and tablets? I will elaborate such areas in
detail on forthcoming articles.
Source: The Internet

'....Early
this morning, a message asking all users to change their eBay passwords
appeared on the community homepage and press page of PayPal, an
eBay-owned company. The message was ominous, but mostly blank....'

'....On underground cybercrime markets, iBanking is a well-known piece of
malware, and one of the most expensive ones, too.

"iBanking often masquerades as legitimate social networking, banking or
security applications and is mainly being used to defeat out-of-band security
measures employed by banks, intercepting one-time passwords sent through SMS,"
shared Symantec researchers. "It can also be used to construct mobile botnets
and conduct covert surveillance on victims."
.....'

'...If you think that you are protected from malware if you use Linux, think
again, warn researchers from AV manufacturer Dr. Web, who identified and
examined a record-high number of Trojans for Linux this month - and the
month isn't over yet....'

'...Iranian
cyber-attackers are increasingly moving away from politically motivated
attacks such as Website defacement to cyber-espionage, targeting the
U.S. defense industry sector, FireEye researchers outlined in the
"Operation Saffron Rose" report. What was lost—or glossed over—in the
rush to discuss the actual tactics used by these attack groups was the
fact that this shift in sophistication has striking similarities with
how Chinese attack groups evolved over the past few years....'

'....We’ve previously discussed how difficult it is to safely connect to
networks when on the go. This is particularly true on vacations and
holidays, where the availability of Internet access is one of the most
important factors when looking for a place to stay. In fact, many holiday
lodges and hotels today have made Wi-Fi access an integral part of their
offered amenities. With all the fun and relaxation set before you, it is
easy to take secure Internet access for granted.....'

'....Twitter's kind of an ironic place to look for big data wisdom. It's an
example of the ubiquitous services used by consumers and businesses alike
that help generate this avalanche of data in the first place.....'

'....A collaboration between the FBI and law enforcement agencies in 17
other countries has netted 90 arrests across the globe, all in association
with the Blackshades remote access Trojan (RAT). The investigation was aided
by one of the malware's co-creators......'

'....VOBFUS malware is known for its polymorphic abilities, which allow for
easy generation of new variants. We recently came across one variant that
replaces these abilities for one never seen in VOBFUS malware before—the
ability to “speak” several languages....'

Notice Board

Training and Awareness Programmes
- May 2014

Date

Event

Venue

-

20th -21st May

Development of module
for “Graphic Designer” courses under National Vocational
Qualification